1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing device including a function for cutting recording paper.
2. Description of the Related Art
Large printers called wide format printers generally use roll-type recording paper as the printing medium. Wide format printers using this roll-type paper are equipped with cutters for cutting paper after the paper is printed. Obviously, paper is a common material used in the roll-type recording medium, but non-paper materials, such as cloth and vinyl, are also widely used. Often users wish to use recording paper having special characteristics, such as glossiness and weather resistance, in this type of wide format printer in order to create advertisement displays, for example. Therefore, recording paper other than genuine products provided by the manufacturer of the wide format printer is often used
However, the cutter provided in the wide format printer is normally designed to cut paper media or manufacturer-specific recording media and may result in damage to the cutter or recording media when cutting a medium other than these types. Accordingly, it is necessary to prevent the cutter from operating when printing on other types of recording media. This is accomplished by disabling the cutting action via a control panel on the wide format printer.
However, since the user must specify whether or not the cutter should be operated after determining the type of paper to be printed on, it is not uncommon for the user to forget to change this setting, resulting in damage to the cutter or to the paper and often leading to malfunctions of the printer itself.
Further, sometimes the recording medium cannot be cut properly without changing the cutting mode to suit the characteristics of the recording medium, particularly when the medium is thick or heavy. The paper is cut according to a method of feeding the paper until the printed portion has passed by the cutting position and then cutting the printed portion of the paper away from the non-printed portion. In order to produce a more compact printer, some manufacturers have eliminated a receiving surface of the wide format printer that serves to support the printed portion of the paper passing the cutting position. In this type of wide format printer, the printed portion of the paper hangs down by its own weight. When cutting paper that hangs down by its own weight, particularly when the paper is heavy, the cutter cannot always cut the paper accurately according to the conventional cutting method. That is, when performing a single cut from one widthwise side of the paper to the other, the center of gravity of the paper may shift during the cutting operation, causing the paper to rotate, often resulting in the paper tearing from its own weight or producing an uneven cut. These problems become more remarkable when using a wider paper, such as A0-size paper.
For this case, another cutting method was conceived in which the process is divided into three cuts. First a cut is made toward the right edge beginning just right of center, for example. Then, a second cut is made toward the left edge, beginning just left of center. Finally, the remaining center portion is cut. This cutting method eliminates the likelihood of paper tears caused by the paper""s own weight or uneven cuts produced when the center of gravity shifts and the paper rotates, because the center portion of the paper, which is the center of gravity when the paper is in a hanging state, is connected to the unprinted portion of the paper until the final cut.
However, the method is problematic in that more cutting time is required since the process is divided into three cuts. Another disadvantage of this method is that junctures are formed along the cutting line due to errors in cutting precision. Further, when using lighter paper with which shifts in center of gravity and the like are not a problem, it is better to cut the paper with a single cut in order to cut the paper smoothly and quickly.
While it is conceivable to provide a wide format printer capable of being switched between cutting modes according to the type of paper being used, this printer has not come into widespread use because the user must perform complex operations on the printer for entering a paper cutting mode and must change the mode each time the paper type is changed.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the above problems and also to provide a print instructing device and a printing device capable of greatly reducing damage to a cutter and paper.
In order to attain the above and other objects, the present invention provides a print instructing device communicable with a printing device that performs a printing on various types of recording medium and that is provided with a cutter to cut the recording medium. The print instructing device includes a storing unit that stores a plurality of data sets each indicating one of cutting operations for a corresponding type of recording medium and a transmitting unit that transmits a print data appended with one of the data sets to a printing device. The print data instructs the printing device to perform a printing on a recording medium. The one of the data sets instructs the printing device to perform a corresponding one of the cutting operations to the recording medium.
There is also provided a printing device including a receiving unit that receives a print data appended with a setting data from a print instructing device, the setting data indicating a type of recording medium and a cutting operation, a printing unit that performs a printing operation on one of a plurality of types of recording medium, the printing unit performing the printing operation based on the print data on a recording medium of the type indicated by the setting data, and a cutting unit that performs a cutting operation to the recording medium based on the setting data.
There is also provided a print instructing device communicable with a printing device that performs a printing on various types of recording medium and that is provided with a cutter to cut the recording medium. The print instructing device includes a transmitting unit that transmits a print data appended with a classification data to a printing device. The classification data indicates one of a plurality of types of recording medium, and the print data instructs the printing device to perform a printing operation on a recording medium of the type indicated by the classification data.
There is also provided a printing device including a receiving unit that receives a print data appended with a classification data from a print instructing device, the classification data indicating one of a plurality of types of recording medium, a printing unit that performs a printing on one of a plurality of types of recording medium, the printing unit performing, based on the print data, the printing on a recording medium of the type indicated by the classification data, a storing unit that stores a setting data indicating cutting operations for each type of recording medium, and a cutting unit that performs one of a plurality of cutting operations to the recording medium based both on the classification data and the setting data.
There is also provided a control program of controlling a print instructing device communicable with a printing device that performs a printing on various types of recording medium and that is provided with a cutter to cut the recording medium. The control program includes the programs of storing a plurality of data sets each indicating one of cutting operations for a corresponding type of recording medium, and transmitting a print data appended with one of the data sets to a printing device. The print data instructs the printing device to perform a printing on a recording medium, and the one of the data sets instructs the printing device to perform a corresponding one of cutting operations to the recording medium.
There is also provided a control program of controlling a printing device. The control program includes the programs of receiving a print data appended with a setting data from a print instructing device, the setting data indicating a type of recording medium and a cutting operation, controlling a printing unit to perform a printing operation based on the print data on a recording medium of the type indicated by the setting data, and controlling a cutting unit to perform a cutting operation to the recording medium based on the setting data.
There is also provided a control program of controlling a print instructing device communicable with a printing device that performs a printing on various types of recording medium and that is provided with a cutter to cut the recording medium. The control program includes the program of transmitting a print data appended with a classification data to a printing device. The classification data indicates one of a plurality of types of recording medium, and the print data instructs the printing device to perform a printing operation on a recording medium of the type indicated by the classification data.
There is also provided a control program of controlling a printing device. The control program includes the programs of storing a setting data indicating cutting operations for each type of recording medium, receiving a print data appended with a classification data from a print instructing device, the classification data indicating one of a plurality of types of recording medium, controlling a printing unit to perform, based on the print data, a printing on a recording medium of the type indicated by the classification data, and controlling a cutting unit to perform one of a plurality of cutting operations to the recording medium based both on the classification data and the setting data.
There is also provided a print system including a print instructing device and a printing device. The print instructing device includes a storing unit that stores a plurality of data sets each indicating one of cutting operations for a corresponding type of recording medium, and a transmitting unit that transmits a print data appended with one of the data sets to the printing device. The printing device includes a receiving unit that receives the print data appended with the one of the data sets, a printing unit that performs a printing operation on one of a plurality of types of recording medium, and a cutting unit that performs one of the plurality of cutting operations. The printing unit performs, based on the print data, on a recording medium of the type indicated by the one of the data sets, and the cutting unit performs the one of the plurality of cutting operations to the recording medium, the one of the plurality of cutting operations being indicated by the one of the data sets.
There is also provided a print system including a printing device and a print instructing device including a transmitting unit that transmits a print data appended with a classification data to the printing device. The classification data indicates one of a plurality of types of recording medium to be printed on. The printing device includes a receiving unit that receives the print data appended with the classification data, a storing unit that stores a setting data indicating cutting operations for each type of recording medium, a printing unit that performs a printing on one of a plurality of types of recording medium, and a cutting unit. The printing unit performs, based on the print data, the printing on a recording medium of the type indicated by the classification data, and the cutting unit performs one of a plurality of cutting operations to the recording medium based both on the classification data and the setting data.